Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the oral answer to the hon. Member for Newport, West of 3 November 2008,  Official Report, column 9, on Afghanistan, which eight districts in Helmand province under the control of NATO and the Afghanistan forces he referred to; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave him on 27 October 2008,  Official Report, column 622W.

Armed Forces: Young People

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will initiate a feasibility study on the phasing out of recruitment of under 18 year olds into the armed forces; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what procedures are in place for advice to be give to under 18 year olds on the risks they are likely to face on recruitment into the armed forces;
	(3)  if he will bring forward proposals to ensure the risks of joining the armed forces are explained by an independent responsible adult to any potential recruit under the age of 18 years before that person signs any binding agreement to enlist;
	(4)  whether young people joining the armed forces before their 18th birthday are free to leave as of right; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: There are no plans to phase out the recruitment of under 18s into the armed forces. If the armed forces were required to raise the minimum age of entry, it would create serious manning problems, since 28 per cent. of all recruits in FY2007-08 were aged under 18. The services, in particular the Army, would be unable to man current structures and maintain current capabilities. It is probable that should the minimum entry age be raised, good quality school leavers would settle into other careers and thus be lost to the services.
	All service personnel under 18 years of age who have completed 28 days service have a right of discharge within the first six months of service by giving not less than 14 days notice in writing to the commanding officer if they decide that the armed forces is not a career for them. In addition, service personnel under 18 years three months who have passed their statutory six month period for "discharge as of right", and have registered, before reaching their 18th birthday, clear 'unhappiness' at their choice of career, can request permission to leave the armed forces.
	No young person, under the age of 18 years, may join the UK armed forces unless their application is accompanied by the formal written consent of his or her parents or guardian. This has then to be witnessed by someone of standing in the community, before the applicant can enter service. There is already a robust system in place ensuring that all potential recruits are given full details of all the advantages and risks involved in service life. Throughout the recruit selection process, the staffs at the Armed Forces Careers Offices (AFCO) provide comprehensive written and verbal guidance to all potential recruits, in particular those of less than 18 years of age, and their parents or guardians. This guidance covers the potential recruit's terms and conditions of service, the commitments that they would be undertaking, and their rights to discharge.
	It is defence policy that service personnel under the age of 18 are not deployed on operations outside of the UK, except where the operation does not involve personnel becoming engaged in, or exposed to, hostilities. In addition, in line with UN policy, service personnel under 18 are not deployed on UN peacekeeping operations.

Meteorological Office: Data Protection

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the circumstances were of the Meteorological Office protected personal data related incident in November 2006; and what data was lost or compromised.

Bob Ainsworth: The incident in question relates to the theft of items locked in the luggage area of a vehicle being used by Met Office staff. Among the items stolen were a Met Office laptop computer, personal digital assistant and USB drive. These items contained the work contact details of some 150 people and a small number of documents assessed to be of low security risk.

Wales and the Olympics

Alun Michael: To ask the Minister for the Olympics what assessment she has made of the benefits which the 2012 Olympic games will bring to  (a) Cardiff and  (b) Wales.

Tessa Jowell: Wales stands to gain from the wide range of opportunities created by the London 2012 games.
	We are already seeing good progress—I understand that over 90 schools and colleges in Wales took part in Paralympic Handover events; that over 850 businesses have registered on CompeteFor and 32 facilities from the region are included in the official Pre-Games Training Camp Guide.
	With the Millennium Stadium hosting group stages of the football competition in 2012, Cardiff will be especially well placed to benefit.

Mass Media

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which organisations provided media monitoring services to her Office since its inception; and what the total cost was of each contract over that period.

Tessa Jowell: I do not have my own contract for media monitoring services. Both the Cabinet Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, who have their own media monitoring contracts with Energy Data Services Ltd. and the Central Office of Information's Media Monitoring Unit, supply me with material.

British Nationality

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were granted UK citizenship in  (a) each year since 1987 and  (b) each quarter of the last four years for which figures are available.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 3 November 2008
	The available data to quarter 2 2008 are shown in the following table.
	Data for quarter 3 2008 will be published on 19 November 2008 in table 15 of "Control of Immigration: Quarterly Statistical Summary UK Q3 2008".
	Data are published both quarterly and annually as National Statistics and are available from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website:
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/immigration1.html.
	
		
			  Grants of British citizenship decided in the United Kingdom, 1987 to quarter 2 2008 
			  Number of persons 
			   Grants of citizenship( 1) 
			 1987 64,875 
			 1988 64,585 
			 1989 117,130 
			 1990 57,270 
			 1991 58,640 
			 1992 42,245 
			 1993 45,795 
			 1994 44,035 
			 1995 40,515 
			 1996 43,070 
			 1997 37,010 
			 1998 53,935 
			 1999 54,900 
			 2000 82,210 
			 2001 90,295 
			 2002 120,125 
			 2003 130,535 
			   
			  2004 148,275 
			 Q1 35,700 
			 Q2 35,210 
			 Q3 39,915 
			 Q4 37,450 
			   
			  2005 161,700 
			 Q1 42,370 
			 Q2 40,325 
			 Q3 39,900 
			 Q4 39,110 
			   
			  2006 154,020 
			 Q1 46,820 
			 Q2 35,870 
			 Q3 34,855 
			 Q4 36,465 
			   
			  2007(P) 164,635 
			 Q1 44,610 
			 Q2 40,370 
			 Q3 43,770 
			 Q4 35,890 
			   
			  2008(P)  
			 Q1 34,880 
			 Q2 23,445 
			 (1) Data from November 2001 includes grants of British citizenship in the Channel Island and Isle of Man.

Crimes of Violence: Convictions

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people were convicted of serious violent crime offences in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997;
	(2)  how many people were convicted of violent crime offences in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) England and Wales in each year since 1997.

Alan Campbell: The available data have been provided by the Ministry of Justice and give the number of persons found guilty at all courts for offences of violence against the person in the north-east region and in England and Wales from 1997 to 2006. The court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform cannot provide data for Jarrow constituency or South Tyneside as data are not held at the required level. Court proceedings data for 2007 will be available in November 2008.
	
		
			  Number of defendants found guilty at all courts for offences of violence against the person in the north-east region and in England and Wales, 1997 to 2006( 1,2,3) 
			   Offence  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			   North-east region   
			 001 Murder 17 16 25 12 16 18 13 13 9 19 
			 002 Attempted murder 3 3 2 7 1 1 6 — 4 1 
			 003 Threat or conspiracy to murder 48 50 42 36 23 40 42 46 39 37 
			 004 Manslaughter, etc 34 36 18 24 28 30 26 35 39 18 
			 037 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking — 1 1 — — 1 1 3 — — 
			 005 Wounding or other act endangering life 130 127 93 89 99 112 129 115 126 127 
			 006 Endangering railway passenger 4 3 — 1 — 1 2 2 3 4 
			  More serious offences 236 236 181 169 167 203 219 214 220 206 
			 
			 007 Endangering life at sea — — 1 1 — — 1 — — — 
			 008 Other wounding, etc 2,096 2,300 2,290 2,172 2,234 2.306 2,181 2,124 2,356 2,511 
			 011 Cruelty to or neglect of children 21 14 27 28 23 18 23 32 30 38 
			 013 Child abduction 2 5 4 3 3 4 3 7 1 5 
			  Less serious offences 2,119 2,319 2,322 2,204 2,260 2,328 2,208 2,163 2,387 2,554 
			 
			  Total indictable violence against the person 2,355 2,555 2,503 2,373 2,427 2,531 2,427 2,377 2,607 2,760 
			 
			   England and Wales   
			 001 Murder 275 256 252 261 285 324 277 361 394 372 
			 002 Attempted murder 70 64 70 65 46 65 94 96 66 79 
			 003 Threat or conspiracy to murder 503 488 457 428 383 448 543 576 600 518 
			 004 Manslaughter, etc 541 549 484 505 565 619 561 590 605 513 
			 037 Causing death by aggravated vehicle taking 7 18 7 12 14 10 13 11 22 9 
			 005 Wounding or other act endangering life 1,864 1,775 1,622 1,531 1,595 1,699 1,675 1,897 1,872 1,721 
			 006 Endangering railway passenger 23 23 23 23 20 36 32 23 30 28 
			  More serious offences 3,283 3,173 2,915 2,825 2,908 3,201 3,195 3,554 3,589 3,240 
			 
			 007 Endangering life at sea 4 — 3 5 1 1 2 3 7 2 
			 008 Other wounding, etc 30,838 33,431 32,239 31,940 31,913 34,003 34,257 34,977 36,768 38,046 
			 011 Cruelty to or neglect of children 390 390 469 448 415 444 494 542 482 488 
			 012 Abandoning child aged under 2 years 1 1 1 — 1 — 1 — — 2 
			 013 Child abduction 40 51 71 50 59 59 82 72 80 81 
			 014 Procuring illegal abortion 5 3 — 1 — — 1 1 — — 
			 015 Concealment of birth 1 1 2 1 1 — 4 — 3 3 
			  Less serious offences 31,279 33,877 32,785 32,445 32,390 34,507 34,841 35,595 37,340 38,622 
			 
			  Total indictable violence against the person 34,562 37,050 35,700 35,270 35,298 37,708 38,036 39,149 40,929 41,862 
			 (1) The statistics relate to persons for whom these offences were the principal offences for which they were dealt with. When a defendant has been found guilty of two or more offences the principal offence is the offence for which the heaviest penalty is imposed. Where the same disposal is imposed for two or more offences, the offence selected is the offence for which the statutory maximum penalty is the most severe. (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used. (3) The definition of more serious violence is that used in publications on sentencing relating to the years 1997 to 2006.

Departmental Compensation

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the 10 highest payments made by her Department were under property compensation cases brought against it over the last 12 months for which figures are available; which of the cases were  (a) contested and  (b) uncontested by her Department; and what the nature of each incident was.

Phil Woolas: From available information covering the last 12 months there has been no property compensation cases brought against my Department.

Driving Under Influence: Chelmsford

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many offences of  (a) drug and  (b) drink driving were recorded in (i) West Chelmsford constituency and (ii) the Chelmsford local authority area in each year since 1997.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 4 November 2008
	Offences of driving while unfit through drugs or drink are summary offences and do not feature in the recorded crime statistics collected by the Home Office.
	Data on offences of 'Causing death by dangerous or careless driving (including while under the influence of drink or drugs)' have been collected at local authority area level since 2000-01. There was one offence recorded in Chelmsford in 2002-03, one in 2005-06 and four recorded in 2006-07. However, it is not possible to determine from the information held centrally which, if any, of these offences were committed while the offender was under the influence.
	Data for West Chelmsford constituency is not available centrally.

Drugs: Smuggling

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of alleged drug smuggling cases referred to the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs for investigation in each of the last two years have been investigated by SOCA.

Alan Campbell: Under arrangements made when SOCA was established, HM Revenue and Customs notify SOCA of relevant commodity seizures at port within a mutually agreed framework. SOCA undertakes systematic checks on every notification, but only investigates where the size of the seizure, significance of the criminals involved and operational opportunity available is assessed as suitable for further effective action, in line with the priorities of the UK Serious Organised Crime Control Strategy.
	A refined framework was introduced on 1 September 2006 in order to align notifications to the UK Control Strategy. SOCA received 74 such notifications relating to drugs seizures from 1 September 2006 to 31 August 2007 and undertook investigations in 16 cases. In the year ending 31 August 2008 SOCA received 99 notifications and undertook investigations in 38 cases.

Identity and Passport Service

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 17 October 2008,  Official Report, column 1539W, on the Identity and Passport Service, what account she took of the passports stolen on 28 July in formulating the answer; and if she will make a statement.

Meg Hillier: The blank passports stolen on 28 July in Manchester were bound for RAF Northolt for onward delivery to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's (FCO) overseas consular posts via diplomatic bag. The transport arrangements are the responsibility of the FCO. The Identity and Passport Service were made immediately aware of the loss and have been working closely with FCO on preventative action and the ongoing police investigation.
	A joint letter was sent on 1 August to the Chairman of the Home and Foreign Affairs Select Committees by the permanent secretaries of the FCO and the Home Office explaining the measures FCO are putting in place to increase security for the transport of passports to overseas posts.

Members: Correspondence

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Billericay of 11 July and 17 September 2008 on a constituent, Ms Agnes Mpofu.

Phil Woolas: Lin Homer, Chief Executive of the UK Border Agency wrote to the hon. Member on 29 October 2008 and an amended reply by Jonathan Sedgwick, Deputy Chief Executive was sent on 3 November 2008.

Police Cautions

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminal cautions were issued between September 2007 and September 2008.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office collects data on the number of recorded offences detected by means of a caution. The latest data covers the financial year 2007-08 and shows that there were 358,016 offences detected by means of a caution.
	Statistics on the number of offenders who receive a caution are held by the Ministry of Justice.

British Film Institute

Stephen Pound: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations he has received on the work of the British Film Institute; and if he will make a statement.

Barbara Follett: I routinely meet with the British Film Institute (BFI) and the UK Film Council to discuss the wide range of activities undertaken by the BFI and any important issues arising.
	I also have regular meetings with and correspondence from people across the film industry and the work of the BFI comes up from time to time.
	The BFI does an outstanding job in championing the diversity of film culture in the UK. I would like to offer my congratulations to them for the enormously successful 52(nd) London Film festival, featuring many important new films including Terence Davies' Of Time and the City.

British Library: Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding his Department has provided to the British Library in each of the last five years.

Barbara Follett: DCMS grant in aid funding for the British Library was as follows:
	
		
			  British Library funding , incorporating resource and capital grant in aid 
			   £ million 
			 2006-07 104.4 
			 2005-06 102.6 
			 2004-05 100.6 
			 2003-04 90.1 
			 2002-03 86.1

Departmental Buildings

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 36-37W, on departmental buildings, what the cost of each refurbishment was.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department for Culture, Media and Sport refurbished it's office at 2-4 Cockspur Street, London at a cost of £8,690,690.90.
	The Royal Parks refurbished The Magazine in Kensington Gardens at a cost of £74,000.

Design: Teachers

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he is taking in conjunction with the Design Alliance to encourage continuing professional development among design teachers in schools and colleges.

Barbara Follett: The Government indicated their support for the Design Skills Alliance in Creative Britain, published in February 2008. A bid for funds has been put to DCMS' Creative Economy Programme Board and is currently being considered by Ministers.

Greater Manchester

Eric Pickles: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding  (a) his Department and  (b) the Big Lottery Fund has given to (i) the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations, (ii) Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Support and (iii) the Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Learning Consortium in the last 24 months.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 4 November 2008
	 My Department has not directly funded the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations, Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Support or the Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Learning Consortium in the last 24 months.
	The Big Lottery Fund have advised that it has made four awards worth £768,536 to the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations in the last 24 months but has not funded the Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Support or the Greater Manchester Voluntary Sector Learning Consortium in this period.

Public Libraries: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much has been spent on public libraries in each London borough in each of the last 10 years.

Barbara Follett: The amount of money spent on libraries—net expenditure (actual amount excluding capital charges)—in each London borough is published in the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA), Public Library Statistics, copies of which are available in the House Library.

Television

Andrew Murrison: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will place in the Library the guidance given to broadcasters on determining the public interest in preparing and broadcasting a programme based on undercover filming; and if he will make a statement. [R]

Andy Burnham: The matter raised is the responsibility of the Office of Communications (Ofcom), as independent regulator for the communications sector. Accordingly, I have asked the Chief Executive of Ofcom to reply directly to the hon. Member. Copies of the Chief Executive's letter will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Tourism: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken to promote London as a tourist destination over the last 12 months.

Barbara Follett: My Department has provided £1.9 million in the last year to the Greater London authority, in support of its tourism duties.
	London features widely in VisitBritain's marketing campaigns to promote Britain overseas and England to the British, including print literature and web content on both visitbritain.com and enjoyengland.com. VisitBritain also co-funds, with Visit London, the Britain and London Visitor Centre (BLVC) in Regent street. A monthly London Planner, produced in partnership with VisitBritain and Visit London is available free at the BLVC and other tourist information centres.
	The British Tourism Framework Review, which is due to report shortly, is expected to offer further comment on the future promotion of London domestically and internationally.

Visit England: Finance

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much public funding is being provided to Visit England in 2008-09.

Barbara Follett: holding answer 30 October 2008
	DCMS does not provide direct funding to VisitEngland. For 2008-09, the amount of funding provided by VisitBritain for the direct marketing of England both domestically and internationally (excluding services shared with VisitBritain) is £8.462 million.

10 Downing Street

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Shipley of 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 881W, on 10 Downing Street: shops, 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the merchandise and price list of the gift shop;
	(2)  who the suppliers are of the gifts sold in the gift shop.

Gordon Brown: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave the hon. Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) on 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 881W.

Gulf States: Nuclear Power

Dai Davies: To ask the Prime Minister what matters relating to nuclear power development were discussed during his recent visit to the Gulf States.

Gordon Brown: I discussed a range of issue on my recent trip to the Gulf States. I refer the hon. Member to the press briefing given by my spokesman on 3 November 2008. A transcript of this is available on the No. 10 website
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page17353
	and a copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Ministerial Appointments

Francis Maude: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  when the hon. Member for Brent North was appointed his Special Representative for Forestry Matters;
	(2)  what the  (a) name,  (b) titles,  (c) responsibilities and  (d) dates of appointment of each of his envoys are.

Gordon Brown: I refer the right hon. Member to the ministerial appointments press notice issued by my Office. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House and is also available on the No. 10 website at:
	http://www.number10.gov.uk/news/press-notices.

Ministers: Official Residences

Bob Neill: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Welwyn, Hatfield, of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, column 618W, on Ministers: official residences, for how many months the official Ministerial residence at South Eaton Place has been empty: at what cost to the public purse; and whether the property has been placed on the market.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary Cabinet Office (Mr. Watson) to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on 19 February 2008,  Official Report, column 689W. The official residence at South Eaton Place is currently on the market. The cost of maintaining the property while it is offered for sale, for example to maintain the electricity supply, is minimal.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Elderly

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of patients over the age of 65 years admitted to hospital as an emergency case required  (a) emergency readmission within 28 days of discharge and  (b) a third emergency readmission.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested.
	The available information from the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development (NCHOD) is given in the following table, analysed by three age groups but not including an over 65 grouping.
	
		
			  Percentage of emergency readmission to any hospital in England occurring within 28 days of discharge from hospital 
			  Indirectly age, sex, method of admission of discharge spell, diagnosis (ICD 10 chapter / selected sub-chapters within medical specialties) and procedure (OPCS 4 chapter / selected sub-chapters within surgical specialties) standardised rates. Standardised to persons 2002/2003 
			  Age Group  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05  2003-04  2002-03 
			 Ages 0-15 9.08 8.90 8.58 8.25 8.29 
			 Ages 16-74 8.82 8.51 8.14 7.73 7.39 
			 Ages 75+ 13.82 13.63 13.05 12.19 11.60 
			  Source: Compendium of Clinical and Health Indicators/Clinical and Health Outcomes Knowledge Base (www.nchod.nhs.uk or nww.nchod.nhs.uk), released October 2008. 
		
	
	Where there is more than one readmission within 28 days, each readmission is counted once, in relation to the previous discharge. The data available does not make it possible to link multiple readmissions to one another or to the original discharge.

Cancer: Hertfordshire

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancer patients West Hertfordshire Hospital Trust cared for in each financial year from 1997 to 2007, broken down by type of cancer.

Ann Keen: Data is not collected in the format requested. A table showing a count of finished consultant episodes where there was a primary or secondary diagnosis of cancer in the years 1997-98 to 2006-07 for West Hertfordshire Hospital NHS Trust and the hospitals from which the organisation was formed has been placed in the Library. A finished consultant episode (FCE) is defined as a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FCEs are counted against the year in which the FCE finishes. Please note that the figures do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.

Care Homes

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will require all residential and private nursing homes to have an impaired swallowing policy; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will instruct the Commission for Social Care Inspection to require residential and private nursing homes to demonstrate an ability to meet the needs of residents with impaired swallowing; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  if he will take steps to ensure that those with impaired swallowing living in residential care and private nursing receive appropriate care and assistance; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  how many people have suffered fatal and near fatal choking through impaired swallowing in residential care and private nursing homes in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: All care homes are required by the Care Homes Regulations 2001 and associated national minimum standards to promote and make proper provision for the health and welfare of service users.
	This includes ensuring that an assessment of the needs of each service user has been carried out by a suitably qualified or suitably trained person and that this assessment is kept under constant review.
	Care homes are required to prepare a written service user's plan, which sets out how service users' health and welfare needs are to be met. This will include demonstrating an ability to meet the needs of residents with impaired swallowing. These plans must be made available to the regulator, the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) if requested.
	Care homes must ensure that at all times suitably qualified, competent and experienced persons are working in such numbers as are appropriate for the health and welfare of service users. They must also ensure that staff receive training appropriate to the work they are to perform.
	Care homes must satisfy CSCI that they are able to meet all the needs of service users. CSCI will take appropriate enforcement action if it has any concerns about the welfare of residents.
	Care homes are required to notify CSCI of serious incidents, including the death of, or serious injury to a resident. However, specific information on the numbers of people who have suffered fatal and near fatal choking through impaired swallowing in residential care and private nursing homes is not collected centrally.

Departmental Consultants

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) objective and  (b) monetary value was of each (i) contract and (ii) order placed with (A) Deloitte and Touche, (B) Ernst and Young, (C) KPMG, (D) PricewaterhouseCoopers and (E) PA Consulting by (1) his Department and (2) its agencies in each year since 2004-05.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not collect information on contracts in the format requested. To do so would attract disproportionate cost.
	A new business management system which was introduced on 1 July 2008, is able to gather such future but not retrospective information for the Department.

Departmental Liability

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what dates in each of the last five years his Department informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies.

Ben Bradshaw: In accordance with HM Treasury guidance the Department has reported significant outstanding contingent liabilities in its Resource Accounts each year. These accounts were laid in the House on the following dates: 2007-08 accounts—9 October 2008, 2006-07 accounts—11 October 2007, 2005-06 accounts—6 November 2006, 2004-05 accounts—14 November 2005, 2003-04 accounts—20 December 2004. Non-departmental public bodies have similar arrangements. Inquiries have not brought to light any contingent liabilities reported to the House separately by Minute during this period.

Departmental Pay

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) minimum and  (b) maximum level of bonus is for staff at each (i) NHS grade and (ii) civil service grade in his Department.

Ben Bradshaw: All staff in the Department are employed in on civil service grades and not national health service grades. For instance a senior medical doctor employed in a policy expert capacity would be paid at a senior civil service (SCS) grade.
	The Department has two sets of arrangements under which bonuses can be awarded.
	Special bonuses may be awarded to any member of staff at any stage of the year, in recognition of work beyond their normal range of duties. There is a maximum level of bonus of £2,000, although very few of this value are awarded, but there is no prescribed minimum level.
	Annual bonuses may be awarded to staff who are members of the SCS, based on the extent to which objectives are met, how they are met and how stretching they are. Pay arrangements for senior civil servants are common across all Departments and agencies, although they have flexibility on the specific values of bonuses within a common framework. Annual bonuses for 2008 had a maximum value of 15 per cent. of salary as at 31 March 2008 and a minimum value of 5 per cent. of salary as at 31 March 2008.

General Practitioners: Working Hours

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the performance of GP surgeries in the provision of out-of-hours services.

Ben Bradshaw: Primary care trusts (PCTs) have a responsibility to ensure they provide, or secure provision of a high quality, sustainable service for their local population. All out-of-hours service providers are contractually bound to deliver to the standards of the national quality requirements. Where a provider is failing to meet the quality requirements, it is the responsibility of the PCT as the commissioner of the service, and the strategic health authority to support the out-of-hours provider to improve their performance.
	The independent health regulator, Healthcare Commission, review of urgent and emergency care, "Not just a matter of time", (published on 26 September 2008) found that the national health service has made significant progress on performance against the national quality requirements.
	We have commissioned the Primary Care Foundation to develop an out of hours benchmarking tool. The benchmarking tool assists PCTs in improving the quality of care and increase the scope of potential savings through effective benchmarking. Over 70 PCTs have now signed up to benchmark the performance of their out-of-hours providers.
	We are also developing an indicator to measure patient reported access to out-of-hours care. This indicator will be a tier 1 "vital sign"—which means that it is a national priority for the NHS for 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Health Centres

Mark Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether a primary care trust has full discretion to decide whether a GP-led health centre should be opened in the area for which they are responsible in light of the commitment to local decision-making given in paragraph 5, page 23 of his Department's recent document, High Quality Care For All - NHS Next Stage Review Final Report.

Ben Bradshaw: The NHS Operating Framework 2008-09 (which is available in the Library) set out the Department of Health's expectation that all primary care trusts (PCTs) will secure a new general practitioner-led health centre using their share of the new and additional £250 million access fund and all PCTs are at advanced stages of the process to deliver these extra services. We have consistently emphasised the need for strong public and clinical engagement in making decisions on the location of these services and the services they will provide.

NHS: Bank Services

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial advice Sector Treasury Services has given to NHS bodies on investing in Icelandic banks.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not have any contact with Sector Treasury Services, and does not have any information regarding advice provided by Sector Treasury Services to individual national health service organisations.
	Under the Statements of Internal Control, NHS organisations are free to contract out financial administration and financial management functions, including treasury services, to any organisation that management deems suitable. The Department does not collect any information on individual organisations' contracted out services.
	In addition, NHS organisations are free to solicit advice from any third party that management deems suitable and/or qualified. Once again, the Department does not collect any information on the advice that individual organisation receive from a third party.

NHS: Compensation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been paid in compensation to patients by each trust in each of the last 10 years.

Ann Keen: The document, clinical negligence payments by trusts between 1998 and 2008, has been placed in the Library and contains the information requested. The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) supplied the data.
	 Notes
	1. Reconfigurations of commissioner and providers will mean that some trusts will have been dissolved. The NHSLA has indicated where a trust has been dissolved, and has provided the date of dissolution when the exact date is known by the NHSLA.
	2. Prior to April 2002, trusts handled their own claims below a certain excess. From April 2002, all claims were centralised and handled by the NHSLA. Therefore, around this period the NHSLA repaid money to some trusts that already expended money on those newly centralised claims.

NHS: Patients

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have had their entitlement to NHS treatment withdrawn as the result of their choosing non-NHS drugs in each  (a) strategic health authority and  (b) primary care trust in the last 12 months; and what proportion of patients treated this figure represents in each case.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not held centrally. However, the vast majority of NHS patients receive the treatment their clinician recommends on the NHS. The issue of NHS care being withdrawn as a result of purchasing additional private drugs has only affected a very small number of patients.
	In response to the report 'Improving access to medicines for NHS patients' by Professor Mike Richards, the National Clinical Director for Cancer, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health gave an oral statement to the House on 4 November 2008,  Official Report, column 131, outlining a package of measures to widen access to drugs on the NHS. Following this statement, the NHS chief executive has written to the NHS to make it clear that no patients should lose their entitlement to NHS care as a result of buying additional private care, as long as that additional care is delivered separately.
	Copies of the full report Improving access to medicines for NHS patients have already been placed in the Library and can be found at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_089927.

NHS: Pensions

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals belong to the  (a) old and  (b) new NHS pension scheme.

Ann Keen: The last published resource accounts for the NHS pension scheme England and Wales are for the year ending 31 March 2007. Data for this year shows there were 1,291,582 active members, 399,152 deferred members and 558,079 pensioner members of the 1995 section of the NHS pension scheme. The 2008 section of the scheme was introduced from 1 April 2008. Data on the number of members of the 2008 section will only become available after the 2008-09 accounts have been laid.

NHS: Pensions

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the effect on the amount of liabilities in the NHS pension scheme of the outcome in March 2008 of the judicial review into the calculation of GP's pensions.

Ann Keen: Following the judicial review into the calculation of general practitioners' pensions, dynamisation factors have been agreed as shown in the following table. The impact has been estimated as an increase of around £250 million to the scheme liability disclosed at the most recent full actuarial valuation.
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 2004-05 20.4 
			 2005-06 11.6 
			 2006-07 0 
			 2007-08 0

Suffolk Primary Care Trust: Pay

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent by Suffolk Primary Care Trust on salaries and wages for  (a) general and senior managers,  (b) nurses and midwives and  (c) administrative and clerical staff in each year since its creation.

Ann Keen: Suffolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) was established on 1 October 2006. Data is provided for 2006-07 and 2007-08.
	
		
			  £000 
			   2006-07  2007-08 
			 Managers and senior managers 5,421 7,661 
			 Nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff 23,200 22,434 
			 Administrative and clerical staff 5,288 5,500 
			  Notes: 1. Suffolk PCT was established on 1 October 2006 from four dissolving PCTs: Suffolk Coastal, Ipswich, Central Suffolk and Suffolk West. Note that the 2006-07 figures contain data for the four former PCTs for the first six months of the financial year plus Suffolk PCT for the second half of the financial year and may be distorted due to the merger. It is not possible to split the 2006-07 data between the former PCTs and Suffolk PCT. 2. Data include salaries and wages, social security costs and pension contributions. It is not possible to separately identify salaries and wages for these groups of staff.  3 Figures include permanently employed staff and non-NHS staff, e.g. agency staff.  Source: Information is from the 2006-07 and 2007-08 financial returns for Suffolk PCT. The data are not audited but are validated to the audited financial monitoring and accounts forms.

Office of Rail Regulation

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what regard the Office of Rail Regulation is required to have for the consultation responses it receives before concluding its periodic review; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Office of Rail Regulation stated in the 'Periodic Review 2008, determination of Network Rail's outputs and funding for 2009-14' that
	"In making our determination we have considered carefully all the responses we received to our draft determinations".
	For further information you may wish to contact the chief executive of ORR, Mr. Bill Emery, at the following address: One Kemble Street, London, WC2B 4AN.

Energy: Care Homes

Don Touhig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assistance his Department provides to care homes with meeting energy costs.

Mike O'Brien: None. Care homes fall outside the usual scope of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target, which is an obligation on energy suppliers to promote energy saving in the household sector. However action by energy suppliers in care homes may be approved by Ofgem, the scheme regulator, on a case by case basis.

Departmental Databases

Francis Maude: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 7 October 2008,  Official Report, column 549W, on departmental databases, how the Student Loans Company responds in cases where the MOSAIC data predicts a decreased likelihood of repaying the student loan.

David Lammy: The Student Loans Company (SLC) uses a composite modelling tool which includes access to one element of MOSAIC data only.
	The tool helps the SLC to predict the likelihood that borrowers who are not currently making repayments would be in a position to do so. It cannot provide any firm assessment of borrowers' ability to repay but it does provide SLC's loan administrators with indicative background when approaching borrowers. Once borrowers' actual positions are established—on a one-to-one confidential basis—action is agreed accordingly, e.g. to re-establish scheduled instalment repayment amounts, to negotiate lower repayment amounts or, for those earning under the repayment threshold, to facilitate deferment of repayments.
	This applies only to mortgage-style student loans, which were offered to students who started their higher education course before 1998. Since that date, this type of loan has been replaced by income contingent loans which are collected through the UK tax system by HM Revenue and Customs.

Higher Education: Admissions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what proportion of undergraduate students of each social class are studying each course in higher education institutions.

David Lammy: The latest available information (for the 2006/07 academic year) is shown in the table. The figures show proportions of UK-domiciled young (aged under 21) entrants to full-time first degree courses and other undergraduate courses at higher education institutions in the UK, who were from lower socio-economic classes.
	This information is taken from the annual performance indicators in higher education, which are currently published by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA). HESA also provide this information for each individual HEI (details and figures available at the following link:
	http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/category/2/32/141/
	This is not available for individual socio-economic classes, or for a more detailed breakdown by course type.
	
		
			  UK-domiciled young (under 21) entrants to full-time courses at higher education institutions in the UK: academic year 
			   Percentage of group who are from NS-SECs( 1)  4, 5, 6 and 7 
			 First degree courses 29.8 
			 Other undergraduate courses 42.5 
			 (1 )NS-SEC: National Statistics SocioEconomic Classification  Notes: 1. Figures for 2007/08 will become available in 2009. 2. The proportion of students from low socio-economic classes has been calculated using information on students whose socio-economic class background is known. A significant proportion of students' social backgrounds are unknown.  Source:  "Performance Indicators in Higher Education, published by HEFCE/HESA

Higher Education: Admissions

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which higher education institutions missed their maximum allowable student number by more than two per cent. in each of the last five recruitment years.

David Lammy: None. Higher education institutions have not been subject to maximum allowable student numbers during the last five recruitment years.

Students: Grants

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills 
	(1)  how much has been spent on maintenance grants for undergraduate students in each year since 2004-05; and how much is expected to be spent in 2008-09;
	(2)  what the average maintenance grant paid to eligible first-year UK-domiciled undergraduate students was in each year since 2004-05; and how much it is expected to be in 2008-09;
	(3)  how many first-year UK-domiciled undergraduate students have been entitled to  (a) the maximum maintenance grant and  (b) a portion of the full maintenance grant in each year since 2004-05; and what the estimated figures are for 2008-09;
	(4)  how many, and what proportion, of first-year UK-domiciled undergraduate students have been entitled to a maintenance grant in each year since 2004-05; and what the estimated figures are for 2008-09.

David Lammy: holding answer 3 November 2008
	Available data are presented in the following list for:
	(1) the Higher Education Grant introduced in 2004-05; and
	(2) its replacement, the Maintenance Grant, introduced in 2006-07,
	
		
			  Table 1: Higher education grants to English students, by academic year( 1) 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08( 2) 
			  Students ( T housand) 
			 Full grant 81 157 124 70 
			 Partial grant 19 35 28 16 
			 Nil grant 213 388 326 168 
			 Total(3) 313 580 478 255 
			  
			  Percentage of students 
			 Full grant 26 27 26 28 
			 Partial grant 6 6 6 6 
			 Nil grant 68 67 68 66 
			 Total(3) 100 100 100 100 
			  
			  Expenditure (£  million ) 91 168 135 79 
			  
			  Average (£) 290 290 280 310 
			 (1) Table covers English domiciled student support students in the UK, studying full-time, sandwich and part-time Initial Teacher Training, who entered HE from 2004-05 and prior to academic year 2006-07. Excludes those who do not apply to the SLC for support and excludes those who receive nil support because they are receiving an NHS bursary. (2) 2007-08 figures are provisional. 3 Constituent parte may not add to totals due to rounding.  Source:  Student Loans Company (SLC). 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Maintenance grants to English students, by academic year( 1) 
			   2007-07( 2)  2007-08( 3) 
			  Students ( T housand)   
			 Full grant 98 158 
			 Partial grant 68 110 
			 Nil grant 127 217 
			 Total(4) 293 485 
			
			  Percentage of students   
			 Full grant 33 33 
			 Partial grant 23 23 
			 Nil grant 43 45 
			 Total(4) 100 100 
			
			  Expenditure (£ million ) 334 576 
			
			  Average (£) 1,140 1,190 
			 (1) Table covers English domiciled student support students in the UK, studying full-time, sandwich and part-time Initial Teacher Training. Excludes those who do not apply to the SLC for support and excludes those who receive nil support because they are receiving an NHS bursary. Includes the Special Support Grant payable to vulnerable groups of students who may otherwise have their DWP benefits reduced. (2) Final data for 2006-07 became available in November 2007. (3) 2007-08 figures are provisional. (4) Constituent parts may not add to totals due to rounding.  Source:  Student Loans Company (SLC). 
		
	
	Figures cover English domiciled students in the UK, in line with the remit of DIUS. Postgraduate Initial Teacher Training students can receive maintenance grants; therefore figures include such students and are not restricted to undergraduate students. Comparable figures for first year students are not available separately.
	HE grant expenditure declines in 2006-07 as—for new entrants—it was replaced by the maintenance grant in that year. The average maintenance grant is larger than the average HE grant because both the maximum grant amount and the income thresholds are more generous. The number of students eligible for the maintenance grant before means-testing will steadily increase from 2006-07 as each new cohort becomes eligible.
	The Statistical First Release—Student Support for Higher Education in England, Academic Year 2008-09 (Provisional)—is due to be published by the Student Loans Company in November 2008. This will provide further information on grants, including complete 2007-08 figures and early provisional 2008-09 figures.
	In 2009-10, low income entrants will receive £2,906 of maintenance grant and £3,497 of maintenance loan. In real terms, the maintenance grant will be over 20 per cent. higher than in 1997-98 and the maintenance loan over 50 per cent. more generous.

Council Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects to publish the report of the Building Research Establishment's research into levels of maintenance and management in council housing; and what the reason is for the time taken to publish the report.

Iain Wright: As part of the current Review of Council Housing Finance the Department has commissioned two new pieces of work. The first 'An Evaluation of Management and Maintenance costs in Local Authority Housing' is being carried out by the Housing Quality Network. The second 'Review of the Major Repairs Allowance' is being carried out by the Building Research Establishment.
	Both these items are work in progress and will be published as part of the review process in due course.

Social Rented Housing

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  what steps she has taken to ensure funding to successor registered social landlords when large scale voluntary transfers have been proposed; what rate of interest is payable in respect of each of the current proposals for such transfers; and for what period funding has been made available in each case;
	(2)  if she will review all business plans for large scale voluntary housing transfers prepared by councils before they are put to tenants to ensure that they are achievable with current  (a) economic conditions and  (b) interest rate levels.

Iain Wright: The Department reviews and agrees housing stock valuations prepared by local authorities before tenants are balloted on a housing transfer proposal. These valuations include assumptions about the cost of borrowing in the light of economic conditions. RSL business plans are reviewed by the Department when there is a gap funding requirement to supplement privately raised finance to deliver a Decent Homes investment programme after transfer.
	Interest rates payable and terms applied on loan facilities are negotiated by RSLs as part of a competitive and confidential process in the period between tenant consultation (after a positive ballot) and transfer completion. It is only then that the interest rates and funding terms are finalised between an RSL and its chosen funder.
	There are currently no large scale voluntary transfer proposals that have agreed funding terms and have yet to complete a transfer transaction.

Debts

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to review the eligibility criteria by which indebted individuals can apply for a debt enforcement restriction order; and if he will make a statement.

Bridget Prentice: The enforcement restriction order (ERO) is set out in Chapter 2 of Part 5 of the Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007. It is currently expected that it will be introduced in 2010. It was developed following extensive consultation with the advice and credit sectors. It is intended specifically to support only those debtors who encounter unforeseen short-term difficulties from which they are likely to recover in a relatively short period. Other options, such as the reformed Administration Order (AO), which is contained in Chapter 1 of Part 5 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 exist for those with more long-term problems. There are no plans to review the underpinning eligibility criteria at this time.
	However, earlier this year Her Majesty's Court Service consulted on certain aspects of the administration and enforcement restriction order schemes, including the types of debts that should be able to be protected. The response to the consultation paper: 'Administration and Enforcement Restriction Orders: Setting the Parameters', will be issued shortly.

Electoral Register

Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what plans his Department has to issue guidance on adding new electors to electoral registers under rolling registration rather than re-publishing registers in full;
	(2)  pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 21 July 2008,  Official Report, columns 711-12W, on elections: fraud, what consideration he has given to introducing individual voter registration in Great Britain; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: Under existing legislation, rolling registration exists alongside the household registration system in Great Britain as a means of allowing individuals to register to vote. The current law requires Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) to conduct an annual canvass and publish a revised register by 1 December each year. The Government have no plans to issue guidance on the use of rolling registration to update registers: responsibility for issuing guidance to EROs on electoral registration matters lies with the Electoral Commission.
	The Government have been clear that they are committed to the principle of individual registration. However, this would be a far-reaching reform, and it would need to be undertaken with great care—both to ensure that a new system is robust, and to ensure that it properly tackles the problem of under-registration. The Government's approach to electoral registration is clear: we want to protect the rights of every eligible person to participate in the United Kingdom's democratic process by ensuring complete, accurate and secure electoral registration.

Prison Sentences

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  in respect of which offence most indeterminate sentences for public protection have been handed down since their introduction;
	(2)  how many prisoners are serving indeterminate sentences for public protection;
	(3)  how many indeterminate sentences for public protection have been issued in each year since their introduction;
	(4)  what percentage of those serving indeterminate sentences for public protection are  (a) men,  (b) women and  (c) aged under 25.

David Hanson: On 30 September 2008 the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) indeterminate sentences for public protection (IPP) database indicated that the most common offence for IPP was robbery, with 27 per cent. of the current IPP prisoners in England and Wales serving a sentence for robbery.
	On 3 November 2008, there were 4,863 IPP prisoners. Of these:
	432 of those sentences were imposed in 2005;
	1,582 of those sentences were imposed in 2006;
	1,754 of those sentences were imposed in 2007; and
	1,095 of those sentences were imposed in 2008.
	This does not account for IPPs who have been released in this period.
	From the current population of 4,863 IPPs prisoners, represented as a percentage, the requested categories are;
	 (a) men—97.25 per cent.
	 (b) women—2.75 per cent.
	 (c) under 25—30.39 per cent.
	Most of the material contained in the NOMS IPP sentence database has been migrated from other file and IT sources. Measures are constantly taken to quality assure the information, but as with any large scale recording system with multiple users, the system remains subject to possible inaccuracies. The NOMS IPP database captures data linked to serving IPP population, and is updated on a bi-monthly basis, therefore is not a 'real time' record.

Young Offenders

Humfrey Malins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many persons  (a) between 16 and 18 and  (b) between 18 and 21 years old are serving custodial sentences of (i) 12 weeks or less and (ii) 24 weeks or less.

David Hanson: The following table gives the numbers of 16 to 17-year-olds and young adults serving sentences of three months or less and between three and six months as at the end of September 2008, the latest date for which the information is available, for all prison establishments in England and Wales.
	
		
			   Three months or less( 1)  Greater than three and less than or equal to six months( 1) 
			 16 to17-year-olds 48 338 
			 Young adults(2) 349 551 
			 (1) This includes recalls, some of which have their sentence length overwritten with the length of recall. (2) Young adults are those aged 18-20 and those 21 year olds who were aged 20 or under at conviction who have not been reclassified as part of the adult population. 
		
	
	The figures do not include juveniles held in Secure Training Centres or Secure Children's Homes.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Peacekeeping Operations

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what specific reinforcements have been made by the UN mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and if he will make a statement.

David Miliband: The UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) has not been reinforced externally. The mission has re-deployed existing resources within the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to tackle the current crisis in North Kivu. These include the redeployment of an additional battalion and two additional attack helicopters. MONUC has increased its overall troop strength in Goma from 850 to 1,500. The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations and MONUC are examining further potential reinforcements from other areas of operations within the DRC. The UK supports this reorganisation of MONUC's resources and we will work through the UN Security Council to ensure the missions' resources are deployed as effectively as possible.

European Union: Civil Servants

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many civil servants for whom he has responsibility represent the interests of  (a) Wales,  (b) Scotland and  (c) Northern Ireland at the European Union; what the costs were of each office in which such staff were employed in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by (i) staff, (ii) office rental and (iii) other costs.

Gillian Merron: The civil servants who represent Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland at the EU are part of the devolved administrations' representation to the EU. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs does not have direct responsibility for any civil servants who represent Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office therefore does not hold information about the costs of the offices.

Jack McConnell

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the public purse of the post to which Jack McConnell has been appointed; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has asked Jack McConnell MSP to become his Special Representative for Conflict Resolution Mechanisms. Mr. McConnell will be based in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), working with the FCO, Department for International Development and Ministry of Defence. His travel and other out of pocket expenses will be able covered by the Departments concerned.

Departmental Conditions of Employment

Theresa May: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 
	(1)  what percentage of employees working in  (a) the Prime Minister's and  (b) the Leader of the House's office are (i) on a flexible working contract, (ii) on a job share employment contract and (iii) work from home for more than four hours a week;
	(2)  what percentage of employees in  (a) the Prime Minister's Office and  (b) the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons (i) are on a flexible working contract, (ii) are on a Job Share Employment contract and (iii) work from home for more than four hours a week.

Tom Watson: The Prime Minister's and the Leader of the House's office form part of the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office is committed to and actively supports flexible working. The Cabinet Office's flexible working policy promotes a positive work life balance, values diversity and meets the needs of a 24/7 operationally active Department through offering different working patterns.
	Information on what percentage of employees working (i) on flexible working contracts, (ii) on a job share employment contract and (iii) from home for more than four hours a week is not held centrally. Units in Cabinet Office hold this information separately. This information would be available only at a disproportionate cost.

Personal Income

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the median income per capita was in  (a) Ribble Valley constituency,  (b) the North West and  (c) the United Kingdom in the latest period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 27 October 2008
	 I have been asked to reply.
	Specific information regarding incomes and circumstances of households in the United Kingdom is available in the "Family Resources Survey 2006-07".
	The data source does not allow us to provide robust numbers for estimates below the level of the north west Government office region.
	For the north west, three survey year averages are given. This is because robust single year estimates for regions cannot be produced because of the volatility in estimates.
	Over the period 2004-05 to 2006-07, the median income per capita in 2006-07 prices for the north west is £218 per week. The equivalent figure for the United Kingdom over the same period is £228 per week in 2006-07 prices.
	 Notes:
	1. These statistics are based on Family Resources Survey data.
	2. Small differences should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response.
	3. The reference period for Family Resources Survey figures is single financial years. Three sample years have been combined for the north west as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility, so statistics for the north west cover the period 2004-05 to 2006-07, and are presented in 2006-07 prices. A three year average has also been presented for statistics covering the United Kingdom, so these statistics are comparable to the statistics for the north west.
	4. Incomes have been rounded to the nearest pound sterling.

Children in Care: National Curriculum Tests

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of children in care scheduled to take key stage  (a) 2 and  (b) 3 tests were (i) marked as absent, (ii) took the tests but failed to register a level, (iii) reached level 2, (iv) reached level 3, (v) reached level 4, (vi) reached level 5 and (vii) reached level 6 in each of the last five years.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The numbers and percentages of children looked after continuously for 12 months, who attained the expected level at key stage 2 and 3, are shown in the following Statistical First Releases:
	Outcome Indicators for Looked after Children, Twelve months to 30 September 2004—England (years 2002 to 2004 are shown in table B)
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000577/index.shtml
	Outcome Indicators for Children Looked After, Twelve months to 30 September 2007—England (years 2005 to 2007 are shown in table B)
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000785/index.shtml.
	More detailed Information is unavailable.

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what  (a) equipment and  (b) data was lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The information is as follows:
	 (a) Equipment reported as lost, missing or stolen in the financial year 2007-08 is as follows:
	
		
			   (a) All equipment 
			 Laptop 13 
			 Blackberry 8 
			 Mobile phone 3 
			 Laptop disk drives (no data) 2 
			 Memory Stick 0 
			 Total 26 
		
	
	 (b) The Department for Children, Schools and Families in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance did not report any personal data related incidents for the period 2007-08.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of 16 to 18 year olds have received education maintenance allowance in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [Official Report, 14 January 2009, Vol. 486, c. 5MC.]

Jim Knight: Education maintenance allowance (EMA) is available to learners aged 16 to 19. The number of learners in receipt of EMA in England since 2001 is given in Table 1.
	The proportions of 16 to 18-year-olds who have received EMA in each year since 2001 as a percentage of all 16 to 18-year-olds in England are given in Table 2.
	Provisional figures for 2007/08 show 46.3 per cent. of 16 to 18-year-olds participating full-time education received EMA.
	
		
			  Table 1: Learners in receipt of EMA in England since 2001 
			   Number 
			 2001/02 114,254 
			 2002/03 124,351 
			 2003/04 126,871 
			 2004/05 297,567 
			 2005/06 430,327 
			 2006/07(1) 528,403 
			 2007/08(1) 560,045 
			 (1) Learners who participate in more full-time education and E2E/programme-led apprenticeships will appear twice in these figures may have transferred from one scheme to another during the year. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: EMA recipients in England as a percentage of 16 to 18-year-old population in England 
			   Percentage 
			 2001/02 6.2 
			 2002/03 6.6 
			 2003/04 6.6 
			 2004/05 15.1 
			 2005/06 21.6 
			 2006/07 26.3 
			 2007/08 27.8

School Leaving

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the increase in  (a) pupil numbers and  (b) school estates over the next 10 years as a result of the change in post-16 year old education provision; and at what cost.

Jim Knight: There are two fundamental changes expected in post 16 provisions over the next 10 years. Firstly by 2015, subject to the successful passage of the current Education and Skills Bill, all young people will be required to be in some form of education or training until at least 18. Secondly, in the future, all publicly funded qualifications will fall within one of four routes—Apprenticeships, Diplomas, the Foundation Learning Tier or General Qualifications (GCSEs and A Levels). The growth in numbers of Apprenticeships toward one in five young people, alongside the delivery of 17 Diploma lines, will both enable full participation of young people and mean that the growth of pupil numbers are not predominantly schools based.
	In 2007/08, there were 447,500 16 to 17-year-olds and 23,800 18-year-olds participating in schools out of a total of 1,119,400 16 to 17-year-olds and 375,800 18-year-olds participating in Education and Work Based Learning. Mid-year population estimates for 2015 suggest that, with full participation, there will be around 1,197,300 16 to 17-year-olds participating in Education and WBL. The trajectory, and costs attributed to achieving these levels of participation, including the relative contribution of schools, colleges and other providers will be agreed as part of the next spending review.
	The changes in provision will mean changing requirements as to what schools, colleges and learning providers offer, with some implications for school estates. The 16-19 capital fund was established to meet the cost of new post-16 places in schools and colleges. The value of this fund is £630 million in the three years to 2010-11. In addition, there will be a further £30 million in 2010-11 in recognition of the additional post-16 costs associated with raising the participation age. Further monies will need to be agreed as part of the next spending review.

Specialist Schools: Languages

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of specialist language colleges teach languages on a compulsory basis until the age of 16 years.

Jim Knight: To date 352 specialist schools have chosen languages as one of their specialists with the aim of becoming centres of excellence and supporting the National Languages Strategy 'Languages for all'. Schools opting for this specialist must be able to demonstrate their commitment to promoting languages in Key Stage 4 and ensure that all students follow a language course at this key stage. However my Department does not collect data on how many specialist language schools teach languages on a compulsory basis until the age of 16 years.
	Languages are already a compulsory part of the national curriculum at key stage 3. In response to Lord Dearing's recommendations on how to increase the number of pupils doing languages post-14 we will provide better and more coherent support for teachers, introduce a more flexible curriculum and make languages compulsory at key stage 2 from September 2011.

Specialist Schools: Science

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of specialist science colleges offer GCSEs in the separate sciences.

Jim Knight: To date 433 specialist schools have chosen science as one of their specialists with the aim of becoming centres of excellence and improving post-16 participation in science. However my Department does not collect data on how many and what percentages of specialist science schools offer GCSEs in the separate sciences.
	From September 2008 all specialist science schools will offer triple science at least to all pupils who have achieved level 6+ at the end of key stage 3. In addition there are 580 technology and 68 engineering specialist schools which will be expected to offer triple science from September 2009 and 361 mathematics and computing specialist schools which will be expected to offer triple science from September 2010.

Combined Heat and Power: Public Buildings

Alan Whitehead: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what proportion of the electricity derived from combined heat and power plants is obtained from combined heat and power plants located on the Government estate.

Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
	There are 10 combined heat and power (CHP) schemes located on the Government estate registered with the Government's CHP quality assurance programme (CHPQA). In 2007-08 these 10 schemes produced just over 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity. This represents around 0.1 per cent. of the 28,677 gigawatts electricity produced in total by good quality CHP plants in the UK in 2007.
	Early information from the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) as part of its annual Sustainable Development in Government (SDiG) report indicates that total CHP generated electricity consumed on the Government estate in 2007-08 was 311 gigawatt hours. This would mean that the 19 gigawatt hours of good quality CHP electricity generated on the Government estate represents around 6 per cent. of the total CHP electricity consumed on the Government estate in 200-08.

Departmental Buildings

Francis Maude: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 268W, on departmental buildings, what the cost of each refurbishment was.

Patrick McFadden: BERR did not undertake any refurbishments on its HQ estate during the period covered by the previous question to which this refers. The refurbishments listed in the answer given on 6 October 2008 were undertaken by Companies House and the Insolvency Service and I have approached their chief executives who will respond to you directly.
	 Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 10 November 2008:
	The Minister of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform has asked me to reply to you directly in respect of your question (2007/4320), pursuant to the Answer to the Hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East of 6th October 2008, Official Report, column 268W, on departmental buildings, what the cost of each refurbishment was.
	The Insolvency Service did not carry out any work that constitutes a refurbishment in the relevant period. Therefore, we did not incur refurbishment costs.
	 Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 10 November 2008:
	I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Minister of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
	The costs of the refurbishments carried out by Companies House in the last 24 months are as follows:
	Redecoration and carpeting of London office: £12,500
	Refurbishment in Cardiff office: £560,000

Departmental Lost Property

Grant Shapps: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what  (a) equipment and  (b) data was lost by his Department in the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: In the last 12 months, 1 November 2007 to date, the following equipment and data has been recorded as lost by BERR staff.
	
		
			   Number 
			 Laptop PCs 3 
			 Blackberry Handheld devices 7 
		
	
	The table contains the losses for those parts of BERR which now form part of the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
	Laptops belonging to BERR utilise full-hard disk encryption.
	The Blackberry Handheld Devices also utilise full encryption. In addition when the loss is reported a "wipe" command is sent to the missing device.
	BERR, in accordance with Cabinet Office guidance, did not report any personal data related incidents for the period 2007-08.

Housing Benefit

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the national average number of days taken by local authorities to process new housing benefit claims was in the latest period for which figures are available; and which 10 local authorities took the  (a) most and  (b) least average time to process such claims.

Kitty Ussher: The national average number of calendar days taken by local authorities to process new housing benefit claims was 27 days in 2007-08.
	The 10 local authorities that took the most time to process such claims in 2007-08 were: Weymouth and Portland, Newcastle upon Tyne, London borough of Hounslow, Blyth Valley, Blackpool, London borough of Ealing, East Devon, Rother, Luton, and Isle of Anglesey.
	The 10 local authorities that took the least time to process such claims in 2007-08 were: St Albans, South Norfolk, Maidstone, Crawley, Tendring, South Lanarkshire, Fenland, Sedgemoor, Chiltern, and Cannock Chase.
	 Notes:
	1. Housing benefit claim processing times are measured in calendar days from the day a claim is received to the date a decision is made.
	2. Claim processing performance data is supplied to DWP by local authorities and is un-audited.
	3. Not all local authorities provide all four quarters worth of data—where a local authority has not provided data in a particular quarter, the data they have provided is multiplied to cover the appropriate period; this is then used to calculate the national average.

Maternity Benefits

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 612-13W, on maternity benefits, what  (a) advice and  (b) advance notification the Government received on the increased demand for maternity allowance in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09; and if he will make a statement.

Kitty Ussher: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Leslie Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Mel Groves:
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your question on maternity benefits, what  (a) advice and  (b) advance notification the Government received on the increased demand for maternity allowance in (i) 2007-08 and (ii) 2008-09. This is a matter which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as acting Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Maternity Allowance numbers are forecast by trends in the number of births in Great Britain. Past sets of births projections, which are produced by Office for National Statistics have shown a gradual rise in births. As a result Maternity Allowance forecasts predicted that Maternity Allowance claims would increase by around 5%.
	During the planning process for the centralisation of Maternity Allowance into four units, staffing numbers required were calculated based on that forecast increase in claims, with some productivity improvements, in line with the challenge faced by the whole organisation. In fact Maternity Allowance claims have increased by nearly a fifth this year.
	Although this increase was not forecast, we quickly put plans in place to increase staffing in line with the increase and to ensure work was efficiently distributed across the benefit delivery network. This has ensured arrears of claims which built up earlier in the year are now cleared and we have returned to our normal workload.

Pension Credit: Overpayments

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases of pension credit overpayment his Department has taken to court to seek recovery of payments in each  (a) month of 2008-09 to date and  (b) year from 2003-04 to 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: Information is not available on the number of civil actions taken in respect of pension credit cases.
	It is not normal practice to pursue enforcement of an overpayment through civil proceedings where a customer is in receipt of benefit. Typically people over pension age would be in receipt of benefit from which compulsory deductions can be taken to repay an overpayment.
	Where the customer is in receipt of benefit, deductions from benefit will be arranged compulsorily to recover an outstanding debt.
	In the exceptional circumstances, where a person is no longer in receipt of benefit we would normally seek an agreement to pay by instalments. If no such agreement can be reached, then only as a last resort would civil proceedings be considered.

Pensioners: Council Tax Benefits

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of pensioner households in  (a) Bexley and  (b) Greater London claiming council tax benefit.

Rosie Winterton: The most recent available information is in the table.
	
		
			  Number of pensioner households receiving council tax benefit 
			   London  London borough of Bexley 
			 August 1997 259,670 7,480 
			  Notes: 1. Data refers to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple.  2. The figures have been rounded to the nearest 10.  3. Figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated.  4. Council tax benefit totals exclude any second adult rebate cases.  5. For this request "pensioners" are those who are aged 60 and over.  6. Data for Greater London refers to the London GOR.  Source:  Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in August 2007.

Bank Services

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what action in relation to the activities of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited the UK authorities took prior to the collapse of the company.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 16 October 2008
	 Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander's UK subsidiary was regulated by the FSA, who was also in regular contact with the Icelandic regulator, FME.
	As Kaupthing's position deteriorated the tripartite authorities worked intensively to find solutions to the firm's problems. On 8 October the FSA decided that Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Ltd. no longer met the FSA's threshold conditions and the firm went into administration.
	The Government have exercised powers to protect savers' money by transferring Kaupthing's internet savings business, Edge, to ING Direct.

Bank Services

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what discussions he has had with the Isle of Man government on compensation for depositors, bond holders and pension schemes who had money in Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man);
	(2)  if he will meet representatives of the Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander (Isle of Man) Action Group.

Ian Pearson: Arrangements relating to Kaupthing Singer and Freidiander Isle of Man (KSF IOM) area matter for the Government of the Isle of Man. KSF IOM is not a subsidiary of KSF in the UK, but of the Icelandic parent company. Oversight of KSF IOM is the responsibility of the Isle of Man's Financial Supervision Commission; and deposits with KSF IOM will be subject to the Isle of Man's Deposit Compensation Scheme.

Bank Services

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what information he received about the  (a) solvency and  (b) liquidity of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited prior to the declaration by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) that it was in default; and what action (i) his Department and (ii) the FSA has taken against the company's assets;
	(2)  under whose authority and under what powers the Financial Services Authority (FSA) declared Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited to be in default of its regulatory requirements; and what action  (a) his Department and  (b) the FSA took as a consequence;
	(3)  for what reason Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited was placed in administration;
	(4)  what information he had about the financial state of Icelandic banks in the period before September 2008.

Ian Pearson: The FSA intensified its supervision of deposit-taking by Icelandic banks (including through increased contact with firms, more frequent visits and enhanced reporting requirements) from the beginning of 2008. As the economic situation deteriorated during the year and particularly since September, the FSA worked increasingly with the banks concerned. As the memorandum of understanding between HM Treasury, the Bank of England and the FSA sets out, the FSA informs the Bank of England and HM Treasury of its concerns on a regular basis.
	On 8 October the FSA determined that Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander Ltd. no longer met the FSA's threshold conditions and the firm went into administration. The FSCS was triggered by the FSA as it determined that KSF was unable or likely to be unable to satisfy claims against it. These decisions were taken by the FSA on its own authority under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA).
	On the same day, the Treasury, under the Banking (Special Provisions) Act, transferred the deposit book of "Edge" accounts to ING Direct. The transfer of retail deposits was funded by the FSCS and the Treasury. The remainder of KSF was placed into administration following due legal process.

Departmental Databases

Francis Maude: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what types of financial information are stored on his Department's COINS database.

Yvette Cooper: The Coins database holds financial information on Departments' spending plans, in-year forecasts and outturn. Each of these is reported against the budgetary, parliamentary estimates and national accounts frameworks, with outturn additionally reported against the resource accounts framework.

Personal Savings: Protection

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps the Government is taking to protect the assets of British citizens living in the Isle of Man whose savings were deposited with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Ltd.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 20 October 2008
	Arrangements for depositors in banks in the Isle of Man are a matter for the Government of the Isle of Man.
	Deposits with Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander, Isle of Man, will be subject to the Isle of Man deposit compensation scheme.
	In line with usual constitutional arrangements, the Government will represent the Crown Dependencies in its negotiations with the Icelandic Authorities.

Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Greg Hands: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff  (a) on a full-time equivalent basis,  (b) on a headcount basis and  (c) as a proportion of total HM Revenue and Customs staff in HM Revenue and Customs are employed in an enforcement role.

Stephen Timms: The term 'enforcement' has been used to cover different activities in HMRC and the two predecessor departments. There are 6,195 (headcount) staff in HM Revenue and Customs who have the power of arrest, including uniformed staff now working with the UK Borders Agency. That is 7 per cent. of the total staff in HM Revenue and Customs.
	The FTE figure for these staff is not available.

Afghanistan: Reconstruction

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Richmond (Yorkshire) of 18 December 2007,  Official Report, column 1353W, on Afghanistan: reconstruction, what studies the Stabilisation Unit has conducted into lessons learned for his Department from UK stabilisation and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: Since December 2007, the Stabilisation Unit has published three Stabilisation Issues Notes covering security sector and the rule of law, human rights, and demobilisation, disarmament and re-integration. It will shortly publish notes on public administration, strategic communications, and private sector development. These notes consider how to engage on these issues in conflict-affected environments. All draw heavily on lessons identified from Afghanistan and in particular Helmand Province.
	All of these documents are or will be available on the Stabilisation Unit's website:
	www.stabilisationunit.gov.uk

Departmental Liability

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development on what dates in each of the last five years his Department informed the House of the creation of contingent liabilities relating to his Department or its non-departmental public bodies.

Douglas Alexander: The Department for International Development (DFID) reports contingent liabilities annually to the House through its resource accounts, which include liabilities not required to be reported directly to Parliament. The most recent accounts for 2007-08 were laid before the House on 14 July 2008 (HC 672). No other contingent liabilities have been reported directly to the House in the last five years.
	DFID's only non-departmental public body is the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission, which reports annually to Parliament through me. Its most recent report issued in June 2008 and copies were placed in the Library of the House.

Developing Countries: Non-profit Making Associations

John Battle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what plans he has to spread best practice of social enterprises in low income countries; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Foster: The Department for International Development (DFID) understands social enterprises to be businesses set up to tackle a social or environmental need, in which profits are reinvested to sustain and further their mission for positive change. Many producer co-operatives, self-help groups and fairtrade producer groups could be considered as social enterprises. DFID's country programmes work with a range of these and DFID centrally has supported the fairtrade movement for many years.
	As part of a donor consortium, DFID is currently funding the global Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) and one of its member bodies, the UK Fairtrade Foundation, to help rapidly expand the reach of fairtrade through bringing many more poor producers, particularly from low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, into fairtrade markets. Bringing producers into fairtrade certification involves informing producers about the standards required, including that a democratically-run group must exist that decides how to invest for social purposes the 'fairtrade premium' they will receive. Our funding helps support specific work such as the FLO 'Strategic Review' currently under way, that considers progress against the objectives of providing market access on good terms for poorer producers in developing countries, to identify and share what's working and what remains a challenge.